In developed countries, over half of all adults have some form of periodontal disease. See, e.g., Sheila Riggs, Public Policy & Oral Health: A Whole New Game, Scientific American, Special Supplement, Oral and Whole Body Health, 2006, at 39 (“57 percent of adults have moderate periodontitis; 7 to 15 percent have an advanced form of the disease.”). Recent studies have linked periodontal disease to other significant health problems including heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and premature birth. E.g., Philip E. Ross, Invaders of the Body's Defenses, Scientific American, Special Supplement, Oral and Whole Body Health, 2006, at 6.
Thankfully, a variety of relatively inexpensive treatment options for periodontal disease are emerging. But many of these treatment options are only indicated when the disease is in its early stages. Later, treatment options become increasingly invasive and expensive, often requiring oral surgery and/or treatment of the associated problems caused by the periodontal disease. Therefore, early detection and treatment of periodontal disease is important to ensure the best outcomes and decrease health care costs.
Unfortunately, current methods of early diagnosis of periodontal disease are underutilized, cumbersome, and/or prone to errors. For example, voice activated periodontal charting systems are available that allow a registered dental hygienist or other trained examiner to document periodontal disease during examination. But these systems must be trained to the voice of the particular examiner and can introduce errors into the patient's chart. In a periodontal examination producing 500-1000 data points, an error rate of just 4% produces 20-40 errors per examination. These errors must either be corrected in front of the patient or left uncorrected.
Other available systems provide automated voice confirmation to detect and correct errors, but these systems provide no feedback or education to the patient. For example, Logue (U.S. Pat. No. 7,329,116) discloses a foot-operated data entry device including an automated voice system, but the voice system merely announces data values to be entered into a computer-based chart. The system merely repeats the data entered via the input device without any additional feedback or educational messages for the patient. Such feedback and education is critical because, unlike other dental problems, early periodontal disease is often not accompanied by pain or visible symptoms that inform the patient of the seriousness of the problem. Hygienists and other dental professionals have a difficult time convincing patients to treat a problem they can neither see nor feel.
The normative roles of different participants in the examination and diagnosis process can also be a barrier to early treatment adoption. Often times the persons who have the most interaction with a patient, such as nurses, assistants, and hygienists, develop an emotional attachment to the patient. This type of caring open relationship is important to patient care as well as to the success of a practice. But, if the nurse, hygienist, or other representative of the practice becomes reluctant to deliver “bad news” to the patient because of this attachment, the patient's care may suffer and the practice may be exposed to liability for failure to properly inform the patient of their condition and associated risks.
The changing normative role of doctors, dentists, and other licensed professionals can also become a barrier to treatment when a patient's expectations are not met. Younger generations of patients may be less prone to respect a professional's authority without question. These patients may seek a more in-depth understanding of their condition and treatment options. Such patients increasingly seek out other sources of information on their own via high-technology sources, such as the Internet, or require more information from their doctors or other dental and health care professionals. Professionals who have been practicing a long time may not be accustomed to being questioned in depth by this new generation of patients. They may consider such activities as “selling” a patient on a treatment. They may feel that sales interaction with a patient is undignified and inappropriate for a professional. But if professionals do not respond well to a patient's inquires, the patient may take their questions elsewhere, or worse, rely on a misunderstanding of information they themselves find on the Internet. Again, patient care may suffer and a practice may be exposed to liability as a result.
Accordingly, there is need for a less cumbersome method for periodontal examination that also educates patients and encourages early treatment adoption. There is also need for an authoritative, unbiased, third-party “voice” in a practice that can deliver in-depth, customized condition and treatment information to patients in a manner that is efficient, engaging, effective, consistent, and documentable, without risking caring patient relationships.
Periodontal disease is highlighted here as an illustrative example of an asymptomatic disease that would benefit form early diagnosis and treatment adoption. The subject invention can also be applied to other medical diseases.